Microsoft loses Office patent appeal

Microsoft and i4i have been entangled in a legal battle related to handling of XML files in Office for quite some time. The judgment back in May favored i4i awarding them $200m in damages but it did not halt sales of infringing Word and Office copies. However, yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an injunction to stop sales by Jan 11, 2010.

Needless to say, Microsoft has to and will, comply the injunction. The latest statement from MS said it is “moving quickly to comply with the injunction.”

Microsoft further said that they’ve been working on the possibility to remove this “little-used feature” since the District Court injunction in August this year.

The injunction does not apply to already sold copies of Word 2007 and Office 2007 but only those sold after Jan 11. Office 2010, which is due next year is said to be unaffected since it does not support the infringing technology.

[Via Appleinsider]

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